{"id":2056,"date":"2016-10-31T00:00:18","date_gmt":"2016-10-31T04:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/mission-and-identity\/?p=2056"},"modified":"2019-09-18T16:47:32","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T20:47:32","slug":"and-are-we-not-of-interest-to-each-other","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/2016\/10\/31\/and-are-we-not-of-interest-to-each-other\/","title":{"rendered":"and are we not of interest to each other?"},"content":{"rendered":"

We encounter each other in words, words
\n<\/em>spiny or smooth, whispered or declaimed,
\n<\/em>words to consider, reconsider.<\/em><\/p>\n

Elizabeth Alexander
\n2009 Presidential Inauguration poem<\/p>\n

Guest editing “A Work Day in Hard Times”<\/a> the week before U.S. elections, elections that have been marked by so much contention, anger, and fear, I find myself drawn to the words that head its mast:<\/p>\n

In easy times you don\u2019t have to be so careful about your language; you will spontaneously find playful words, wise with kindness. In hard time it helps to pay attention to word choices lest we slide into cynical, frightened or bitter language that biases our imaginations. The poems or sacred text in these posts are beautiful, just the thing to pay attention to in hard times. \u2014Fr. John Staudenmaier, S.J.<\/p>\n

This week I will be posting poems that speak to what poetry might provide us at this moment if we pay it our attention\u2014reminders, clearings, bridges.<\/p>\n

In her poem \u201cArs Poetica #100: I Believe\u201d Elizabeth Alexander poses a question, a question that asks us to remember our starting place:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ars Poetica #100: I Believe<\/p>\n

Poetry, I tell my students,
\nis idiosyncratic. Poetry<\/p>\n

is where we are ourselves
\n(though Sterling Brown said<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery \u2018I\u2019 is a dramatic \u2018I\u2019\u201d),
\ndigging in the clam flats<\/p>\n

for the shell that snaps,
\nemptying the proverbial pocketbook.<\/p>\n

Poetry is what you find
\nin the dirt in the corner,<\/p>\n

overhear on the bus, God
\nin the details, the only way<\/p>\n

to get from here to there.
\nPoetry (and now my voice is rising)<\/p>\n

is not all love, love, love,
\nand I\u2019m sorry the dog died.<\/p>\n

Poetry (here I hear myself loudest)
\nis the human voice,<\/p>\n

and are we not of interest to each other?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Elizabeth Alexander<\/p>\n

\"elizabeth-alexander\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Hear Krista Tippet, host of On Being<\/em>, interview<\/a> Elizabeth Alexander on what poetry works in us\u2014and in our children\u2014and why it may become more relevant, not less so, in hard and complicated times.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Rosemary Weatherston, Ph.D.
\nAssociate Professor of English
\nDirector, Women’s & Gender Studies Program
\nDirector, Dudley Randall Center for Print Culture
\n313.993.1083<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We encounter each other in words, words spiny or smooth, whispered or declaimed, words to consider, reconsider. Elizabeth Alexander 2009 Presidential Inauguration poem Guest editing “A Work Day in Hard Times” the week before U.S. elections, elections that have been … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11641],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2056"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/139"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2056"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2056\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3184,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2056\/revisions\/3184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}